One person has died, seven others have tested positive for novel coronavirus — six of them at local seniors’ homes — and one additional outbreak has been reported, Ontario’s Middlesex-London Health Unit (MHLU) reported Friday.
It brings the total number of cases in London and Middlesex to date to 409, and the number of deaths to 38.
Health officials also said five more people had recovered, bringing that total to 225 — about 55 per cent of cases. Details about the recovered case were not available.
The total number of outbreaks now stands at 17, with 10 still active.
Health officials said the death was not linked to any local long-term care or retirement home, and involved a woman in her 80s. No other information has been released.
Figures released by MLHU show three of the newly reported cases involved long-term care home staff, while one involved a long-term care home resident, and two involved residents of local retirement homes.
All of the new cases were reported in London, where 380 cases have been confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic. Fifteen cases have been reported in Strathroy-Caradoc, seven in Middlesex Centre, four in Thames Centre, and three in North Middlesex. It’s unclear how many cases in each location have been marked as recovered.
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Friday’s update comes a day after the health unit reported one death along with nine new cases — six of them at local seniors’ homes, with four involving long-term care home staff.
On Wednesday, the health unit reported four deaths, three of them at seniors’ homes, in addition to nine new cases, and on Tuesday reported ten new cases, including eight at seniors’ homes. The week began with health officials reporting the death of a long-term care resident and two new cases.
Long-term care and retirement homes in the city now account for at least 121 of the region’s 409 cases — about 30 per cent — and at least 11 of the 17 outbreaks that have been declared.
Seventy-seven cases have been reported at long-term care homes involving 49 residents and 28 staff, while 44 cases have been reported at retirement homes involving 32 residents and 12 staff. It’s not clear how many cases are active. Fifteen deaths have also been associated with long-term care homes, and five with retirement homes.
Eight outbreaks remain active at seniors’ facilities, the most recent of which was declared on Thursday at Kensington Village in its 138-bed retirement home.
It’s the second COVID-19 outbreak to be declared at Kensington Village. An outbreak has been ongoing in the village’s 76-bed long-term care home, located at the same address, since early April.
An outbreak also remains active at Earls Court Village, a long-term care home operated by the same company — Sharon Village Care Homes.
Elsewhere, outbreaks remain at Grand Wood Park, Meadow Park Care Centre, Horizon Place, Sisters of St. Joseph and Elmwood Place.
At least 198 COVID-19 outbreaks that have been declared at long-term care homes across Ontario since mid-January, according to Public Health Ontario.
The region’s oldest still-active outbreak was declared on March 28 at Henley Place, a long-term care home, where 12 cases have been confirmed among residents, the home’s operator confirmed Thursday.
Six cases have been deemed resolved, three residents have died, two are in hospital, and one case remains active at the home, said Jill Knowlton, chief operating officer of Primacare.
An outbreak also remains active at Victoria Hospital in the facility’s geriatric behavioural unit (C6-100), according to London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). An outbreak in the hospital’s oncology unit (C7-400) was declared over on Wednesday.
At least 38 staff members with LHSC have tested positive for novel coronavirus, according to the organization, a number that has remained unchanged since Tuesday. Further details about those cases were not available.
Both University and Victoria hospitals were treating a total of 27 patients for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on Friday, the same as Thursday, with eight in intensive care — one fewer than the day before.
Provincially, Ontario reported 421 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, and 39 more deaths.
The province has now seen 16,608 cases, an increase of 2.6 per cent over the previous day. That’s down from the 2.9 per cent growth rate on Thursday, as the province looks for a consistent two-to-four weeks of declines before starting to reopen the economy.
The total includes 1,121 deaths and 10,825 resolved cases.
The number of tests performed over the past 24 hours jumped by 3,604, to 16,532 tests completed. Another 11,859 were listed as under investigation.
That increase comes after the province pledged to reach 14,000 tests per day by Wednesday, but fell short of that deadline.
The government had previously promised to reach 18,900 tests a day by mid-April.
Hospitalizations are up from 999 people to 1,017, though the numbers of people in intensive care and on ventilators declined for a fifth straight day.
Elgin and Oxford
No new cases or deaths have been declared in Elgin and Oxford counties, and one person has recovered, officials with Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) reported Friday.
It keeps the total number of confirmed cases in the region at 59, and brings the number of recovered cases to 33 — about 56 per cent of all cases.
The number of deaths remained unchanged at four, as did the total number of declared outbreaks, at two. One outbreak remains active.
The outbreak, declared April 21 at Caressant Care on Bonnie Place in St. Thomas, Ont., came after a staff member tested positive, SWPH said.
Twenty-two cases remain active in the region as of Friday, including at least seven in Elgin County, including four in St. Thomas, and 15 in Oxford County, including five in Woodstock, Ont., and three in Tillsonburg, Ont.
As of Friday, 2,536 COVID-19 tests had been administered in the region, an increase of 93 from the day before.
The number of tests awaiting results now stands at 410, higher than the 392 reported on Thursday, but lower than the 631 reported on Wednesday.
Huron and Perth
An outbreak has been declared at a Huron County retirement home after a staff member tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials with Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) reported Friday.
It’s the only new case reported by the health unit, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 47. The new case was reported in Morris Turnberry, Ont., according to HPPH figures.
The number of deaths remained unchanged at five, as did the number of recoveries, which stands at 34 — about 72 per cent of all cases.
The outbreak at Braemar Retirement Centre in North Huron, Ont., is the fifth outbreak that has been declared in Huron and Perth since the start of the pandemic.
Four of the outbreaks remain active, including the first, at Greenwood Court, a long-term care home in Stratford, Ont., where six residents and 10 staff have tested positive at the facility, and four people have died.
It was just yesterday when health officials reported a new death at the home, along with a new case involving a staff member.
The Stratford facility accounts for 16 of the 24 cases that have been confirmed in Stratford, and all of its reported deaths. Eighteen of the city’s cases have been marked as recovered — 75 per cent — however, it’s unclear how many can be attributed to Greenwood Court.
Two other outbreaks remain active in the region, including at Blue Water Rest Home in Bluewater, Ont., where one resident has tested positive, and at Huronview in Huron East, Ont., where one staff has tested positive.
Outside of Stratford, 12 cases have been confirmed in Huron County, including three in Bluewater and South Huron, two in Central Huron and one each in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, Goderich, Huron East, and Morris Turnberry.
Eight of Huron’s cases have been marked as recovered. It’s unclear where in the county the recovered cases were located.
Officials say nine cases have been confirmed in Perth, including three in Perth East and two each in North Perth, Perth South and West Perth. Seven have been marked as recovered.
Two cases have been reported in St. Marys. One person later died, while the other has since recovered.
As of Friday, 1,613 COVID-19 tests had been administered in Huron and Perth, an increase of 56 from the day before. Of those, 335 are pending results, a decrease of 11 from Thursday.
Sarnia and Lambton
One person has tested positive for novel coronavirus and one more person has recovered, Lambton Public Health reported Friday.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 183, and the number of recovered cases to 90 — about 49 per cent of cases. The number of deaths remained unchanged at 14. Seventy-nine cases remain active.
It comes a day after the health unit reported one new case and two recoveries.
The new case reported Thursday involved a resident at Vision Nursing Home, a long-term care facility in Sarnia, Ont., where an outbreak has been declared — one of three still active in the county, all of them in Sarnia.
The health unit says four residents have tested positive at the home, along with two staff members.
The outbreaks account for at least 48 of the county’s confirmed cases, according to health unit figures, or some 26 per cent.
Outbreaks also remain active at Sumac Lodge, where a staff member tested positive, and at Landmark Village, where 30 residents and 10 staff have tested positive, and six residents have died.
It’s not clear how many cases at Landmark Village remain active. The outbreak was first declared there on March 26.
At least 15 of the county’s cases involve staff members of Sarnia’s Bluewater Health hospital, where one additional staff member tested positive earlier in the week.
Hospital officials have determined five of the cases were acquired through work, and 10 acquired through the community, hospital spokesperson, Julia Oosterman, said Friday, adding none of the staff have been hospitalized and all are at home.
All are considered active cases at this point, but Oosterman noted the hospital was awaiting the results of retests.
The hospital reported on Friday that it was treating nine COVID-19 patients, a decrease of two from Thursday, in addition to 18 that were suspected or had tests pending.
As of Friday, 2,111 COVID-19 tests had been administered in Lambton County, an increase of 79 from the day before. The number of tests pending results was not available.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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